List of U.S. state fossils

Most American states have made a state fossil designation, in many cases during the 1980s. It is common to designate one species in which fossilization has occurred, rather than a single specimen, or a category of fossils not limited to a single species.

Some states that lack an explicit state fossil have nevertheless singled out a fossil for formal designation as a state dinosaur, rock, gem or stone.

Table of state fossils

State federal district or territory	Age	Common name	Binomial name	Image	Year adopted
Alabama	Eocene	Basilosaurus whale	Basilosaurus cetoides		1984[1]
Alaska	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth	Mammuthus primigenius		1986
Arizona	Triassic	Petrified wood	Araucarioxylon arizonicum		1988
California	Pleistocene	Saber-toothed cat	Smilodon fatalis		1974
Colorado	Jurassic	Stegosaurus	Stegosaurus armatus		1982
Connecticut	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus		1991
Delaware	Cretaceous	Belemnite	Belemnitella americana		1996
District of Columbia	Cretaceous	" Capitalsaurus " (state dinosaur)	nomen nudum only		1998
Florida	Eocene	Agatized coral (state stone)	Cnidaria, Anthozoa		1979
Georgia	Cretaceous– Miocene	Shark tooth	undetermined		1976[2]
Idaho	Pliocene	Hagerman horse	Equus simplicidens
Illinois	Pennsylvanian	Tully monster	Tullimonstrum gregarium		1989[3]
Indiana	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2022[4]
Kansas	Cretaceous	Pteranodon (state flying fossil)[5]	Pteranodon longiceps		2014[6]
	Cretaceous	Tylosaurus (state marine fossil)[7]	Tylosaurus kansasensis		2014[8]
Kentucky	Ordovician– Pennsylvanian	Brachiopod	undetermined		1986[9]
Louisiana	Oligocene	Petrified palmwood	Palmoxylon		1976[10]
Maine	Devonian	Pertica plant	Pertica quadrifaria		1976
Maryland	Miocene	Ecphora gardnerae shell	Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae		1984 (name revised, 1994)[11]
Massachusetts	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus
Michigan	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2002
Mississippi	Eocene	"Prehistoric whale"	Zygorhiza kochii		1981[12]
Missouri	Pennsylvanian	Sea lily	Delocrinus missouriensis		1989
Montana	Cretaceous	Duck-billed dinosaur	Maiasaura peeblesorum
Nebraska	Pleistocene	Imperial mammoth	Mammuthus imperator
Nevada	Triassic	Ichthyosaur[13][14]	Shonisaurus popularis		1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)
New Mexico	Triassic	Coelophysis	Coelophysis bauri		1981
New York	Silurian	Sea scorpion	Eurypterus remipes		1984
North Carolina	Miocene- Pliocene	Shark tooth	Otodus megalodon		2013[15]
North Dakota	Paleocene	Shipworm-bored petrified wood	Teredo petrified wood
Ohio	Ordovician	Trilobite	Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)		1985[16]
	Devonian	Dunkleosteus	Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)		2021[17]
Oklahoma	Jurassic	Saurophaganax	Saurophaganax maximus		2000[18]
Oregon	Eocene	Dawn redwood	Metasequoia		2005
Pennsylvania	Devonian	Trilobite	Phacops rana		1988[19]
South Carolina	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		2014[20]
South Dakota	Cretaceous	Triceratops	Triceratops horridus
Tennessee	Cretaceous	Bivalve	Pterotrigonia thoracica
Utah	Jurassic	Allosaurus	Allosaurus fragilis		1988[21]
Vermont	Pleistocene	Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014)	Delphinapterus leucas		1993[22][23]
	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth tooth and tusk (state terrestrial fossil)	Mammuthus primigenius		2014[23][24]
Virginia	Cenozoic	scallop	Chesapecten jeffersonius		1993
Washington	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		1998[25]
West Virginia	Late Pleistocene	Jefferson's ground sloth	Megalonyx jeffersonii		2008[26]
Wisconsin	Silurian	Trilobite	Calymene celebra		1985[27]
Wyoming	Eocene	Knightia	Knightia spp.		1987

States lacking a state fossil

• Arkansas
• Hawaii
• Minnesota
  • The giant beaver was proposed in 2022.^[28]
• Iowa
  • The crinoid was proposed in 2018.^[29]
• New Jersey
• New Hampshire
  • The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) was considered in 2015.^[30]
• Rhode Island
• Texas
  • The
    Sauroposeidon proteles.^[31]

• List of U.S. state dinosaurs
• List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, and gemstones
• Lists of U.S. state insignia

References